Unified Method for the Total Pore Volume and Pore Size Distribution of Hierarchical Zeolites from Argon Adsorption and Mercury Intrusion

A generalized approach to determine the complete distribution of macropores, mesopores, and micropores from argon adsorption and mercury porosimetry is developed and validated for advanced zeolite catalysts with hierarchically structured pore systems in powder and shaped forms. Rather than using a fragmented approach of simple overlays from individual techniques, a unified approach that utilizes a kernel constructed from model isotherms and model intrusion curves is used to calculate the complete pore size distribution and the total pore volume of the material. An added benefit of a single full-range pore size distribution is that the cumulative pore area and the area distribution are also obtained without the need for additional modeling. The resulting complete pore size distribution and the kernel accurately model both the adsorption isotherm and the mercury porosimetry. By bridging the data analysis of two primary characterization tools, this methodology fills an existing gap in the library of familiar methods for porosity assessment in the design of materials with multilevel porosity for novel technological applications.